§ Mr. PearsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to review the jobseeker's allowance regulations to help unemployed people waiting to receive redundancy payments; and if he will make a statement. [62252]
§ Angela EagleWe are aware that, under existing rules, if money is owed from an insolvent employer full benefit cannot always be paid to ex-employees claiming Jobseeker's Allowance and, as a consequence, many may have to rely on hardship payments until the matter is resolved.
Since this problem came to our attention we have been working to simplify the complex legislation in this area and we are currently considering proposals for changes to the relevant benefit rules.
§ Mr. BradshawTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the number of children in families on(a) supplementary benefit or income support and (b) income-based jobseeker's allowance for (i) 1997 and (ii) 1998, and for each year these as a proportion of all children in the UK. [62104]
§ Angela EagleThe information is in the table.
Number and percentage of children in families on Income Support and income related Jobseeker's Allowance Thousand Number of children Percentage of all children Income Support May 1997 2,410 19.9 May 1998 2,328 19.2 Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance May 1997 436 3.6 February 1998 356 2.9 Notes:
1. The May 1998 Jobseeker's Allowance Quarterly Statistical Enquiry is not yet available.
2. Children are defined as aged 0 to 15.
3. Population figures are based on an estimated resident population at mid-1997 for the United Kingdom
4. Based on a 5 per cent. sample of Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance claimants and as such are subject to a degree of sampling error.
5. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.
Sources:
1. Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry, May 1997 and May 1998.
2. Jobseeker's Allowance Quarterly Statistical Enquiry, May 1997 and February 1998 Population Estimates Unit, Office for National Statistics.